external influences in the transformation of japanese dance

External Influences in the Transformation ofJapanese Dance

著者(英) Takane Hiraijournal orpublication title

Senri Ethnological Studies

volume 27page range 197-213year 1990-03-19URL http://doi.org/10.15021/00003180

SENRI ETHNOLOGICAL STuDIEs 27 1990

External Influences in the Transformation of Japanese Dance

HIRAI TAKANENtira JVbmenls University

INTRODUCTION

The movements and gestures of dance are thought to be among the mostbeautiful things that a people can offer, and thus often represent a crystalization of

people's thanks to and reverence for the gods. During the Onmatsuri Festival, a

big harvest festival held every year on the 17th December since'1136 at the Kasuga

shrine in Nara, twenty four hours of the ceremonies are dedicated to comforting the

gods who are carried to a special place where many dances are done as oflerings by

the shrine maidens, the priests and some professional entertainers. After the gods

are returned to their usual shrine, the people are regaled with dances and sports on

the same stage. During those dances done for the benefit of the spectators, the per-

formers face the audience. The same is true of the Buddhist Bon Festival held ail

over Japan in mid-summer. After the people have conducted ceremonies and

oflered dances to console the spirits of the deceased, they enjoy dancing for

themselves. Here, the dances could be said to comfort and amuse not only the

gods, but also the people. Therefore, by studying the patterns of the movements

and the gestures of these dances, we can get some idea of a people's aesthetic sense,

and begin to understand their ways of communication through body movement and

gesture.

Culture is in a constant state of change, evolving, developing, and always being

passed on in a slightly diflerent form. So too, the factors and conditions that aflect

cultures are themselves governed by the same laws of constant change and flux.

Physical culture, that is to say, the domain of sport, dance and so on, is no excep-

tion to this rule, being shaped and reshaped by means of a coMplex interplay of

forces and stimuli both internal and external. It is generally noted, the Japanese,

though apparently quite ready to assimilate ideas and movements from other

cultures, are, at the same time, little ready to relinquish their own. On the other

hand, whatever very small changes have occurred in Japan, owing to the influence

of foreign cultures, might become more visible as time passes.

Historically speaking, dance in Japan was probably not as commonplace in the

past as it is today. Dance usually performed by the people during set times of the

year, it was not part of their daily activities. After finishing the rice planting or dur-

ing the harvest festival, the people would pray and dance their thanks to the gods.

Today, there are many more chances to watch and participate in dance, and people

197

x

198 T. HIRAI

can go to dance studios or ball-rooms, watch performances at theatres, on outdoor

stages or, of course, on TV.

As in Lomax's generalization that "the movement style in dance is a crystalliza-

tion ofthe most frequent and crucial patterns of every-day activity" [LoMAx 1968:

226], Japanese traditional dances employ many working movements and com-

municational gestures, some stylized, some mimetic. We can also say that the

movement and the patterns of the human body have been influenced to a great ex-

tent by the environment, i.e., climate, geographical features, availability of food,

etc. Prior to the 1960's, the standard physique of Japanese youth was that ofa

Iong torso and somewhat short, stocky legs. However, it has been shown that the

physique of Japanese youth since the 1960's has changed quite radically, owing to

changes in diet;. -the young have grown taller and their legs have become prQpor-

tionally longer. The nature of their dajly activitjes has changed, as Japan has

changed over from an agricultural economy. As opportunities to participate in

dance are no longer limited by festival cycles, we may speculate as to what kinds of

relationships will emerge between the daily activities of present-day life and dance

movement. Furthermore, how will the changing physique be reflected in changes in

the aesthetic sense as regards the human body and its movement?

In this paper, I should like to examine the process of the diffusion of dance

throughout Japan, .that is, the ways in which Japanese styles of dance and the

aesthetics of body movement have been influenced through contact with dances

from other cultures. The paper will first review briefly the historical infiuences on

Japanese traditional dance from the 7th century through to the 1960's. Subsequent-

ly the influence of American jazz dance on Japanese dancing, a process which is on-

going and can be observed and studied in detail as a form of living history, will be

analyzed as the main focus of this paper.

Tada [1973: 168] produced data to show that the Japanese body could be con-

sidered as being divided at the hip, i.e. sepqrated into an upper section and a lower

section. This is interesting work that would seem to confirm the work of Toita

[1965:･67] with NOh actors. Toita showed how the movements of these highly

specialized dancers could be identified by a characteristic lack of movement in the

upper body. IVOh actors when sitting in seiza and again when walking, pull in

the buttocks, thus forcing the back to remain straight. It is their belief that walking

and sitting in these ways is of no small importance in the creating of a spirit of peace

and tranquility within the body.

On the other hand, Lomax [1968: 243] was impressed by the way that the

movements of Japanese dances, and likewise daily life, could described as three

dimensional spirals and large figure-eight movements of the limbs.

It is certainly the case that such gestures and motions are plentiful within the

characteristic canon of Japanese dances. Lomax goes further and speculates that

such movements may well have their origins in agricultural labour, "The rice shoots

go into the mud of the paddy field with a complex, spiral binding movement of the

fingers,... these supple spiralling movements are again mirrored in the savagely

External Influences in the Transformation of Japanese Dance 199

woven lightning of Samurai swordplay . " It seems interesting that Toita and Tada

focused their discussion of the Japanese dancing body on the motionless upper

body or trunk, whereas Lomax emphasized the vigorous motion of the limbs. It is

certainly true to say that those dances native to Japan can be seen to have relatively

few movements of the upper torso and that the characteristic movements of the

various Japanese dance styles are preserved precisely in the absence of such

movements. However, there has been, of late, a dramatic change in the ways in

which even the most traditional dances have been performed, the cause of which I

shall attempt to elucidate here.

In 1980, when the American Dance Machine held the first jazz-dance classes in

Tokyo [CoMo 1981: 50], a first step was taken on the way to making jazz-dance a

powerful influence upon native and traditional dance styles. The inclusion of the

term "jazz dance" in the 1980 edition of Gendai YOgo no Kiso Chishiki(Yearbook of Contemporary Terms) a book which each year collects and explains the

words appearing most frequently in major Japanese newspapers, magazines and

day to day life, marks its emergence as a powerful and important trend among

Japanese youth. Taking place alongside the "health and beauty" boom that swept

the country at about the same period, jazz dance took firm roots among the

populace in the following years, as may be seen by looking at the amount of jazz

dance classes that flourished in local communities and cultural centers, springing up

"like mushrooms after a spring rain". There is no doubt that at present jazz dance

oflers something that is most attractive not only to the young, but also to the

middle-aged, especially to housewives. Its popularity continues to increase, and it

can be seen to be spreading from the major population centers out to the remotest

parts of the country.

ENCOUNTERS VVITH FOREIGN DANCES

Ancient Times

Here, I would like to survey those dances of other lands with which the

Japanese people have come into contact, and the kinds･of infiuence they have had

through Japanese history, although the periods I have assigned are fairly･ arbitrary.

It was during the Aristocratic period that Buddhism and its culture was en-

thusiastically imported from China and Korea. As early as the 6th century, a

devout Buddhist was instrumental in introducing a kind of dance called Gigaku,

a kind of mask dance that had its origins in China. . But this was treated coldly and

was soon abolished because of its gestures, thought to be indecent [UEKi 1981:

231].

Again in the 8th century, another Chinese importation, the dance and music

known as 7bgaku came to these shores, and the Fujiwara dynasty of the Heian

period adopted it for use in the ceremonies and rituals of the court. This was the

Bugaku that can still be seen performed even today at some big shrines, temples

and within the Imperial Household. However, Bugaku never had much influence

200 T. HIRAI

on the traditional and popular Japanese dances, and conversely, this very ancient

form (transmitted from an early Indian original through China and then Korea)

has, in its turn, been little aflected or influenced by Japanese folk dances. Thus,

even today, Bugaku, though considered as a traditional Japanese dance, generally

still retains an exotic and foreign atmosphere to Japanese eyes. On the other hand, ･

there are many Buddhist images painted and sculpted at temples all over Japan, and

some of them often have a slightly curved line to the hips, but we do not find these

body movement or gesture in the traditional Japanese dances. Most of these Bud-

dhist accretions came from China, India and Korea as previously mentioned, and

furthermore, many Korean people became naturalized Japanese. However, the

typical movements and rhythm, spinning and triple-time, which are very popular in

that country are not found in Japanese dapce. The reason why there are so few

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Figure 1 Kannon Buddha with Eleven heads at Kogenji temple in Shiga. The hip is slightly

curved. This is done only in statues of Buddhas, not by the Japanese people

themselves. (from [KuRATA 1984])


spinning movements in Japanese dance could be that the ancient people believed the

spirit will get out of the body in dizziness [Ishida 1978: 40].

Middle Ages

During the 14th and 15th centuries, with Japan maintaining very little contact

of any kind with China and Korea, there developed within the country a series of

original Japanese dances both in the field of religious ceremonies and as simple

entertainment. It was during these times that such typical Japanese dance forms

as NOh, Kabuki and the Bon dances came into existence, the cultural isolation of

almost three hundred years serving to accentuate the originality of these styles. The

characteristic movements and gestures in these dances show a low center of gravity,

very little vertical movement, mostly hand gestures and very little movement of the

torso and legs. It was not until 1853, with the sudden appearance of American bat-

tleships in Tokyo Bay, that this period of self-sufficiency ceased, contacts with the

outside world were resumed, and Japan was ushered into the modern age. After

that the face of Japan was transformed enormously as the country adopted the

various social and industrial systems of Europe and America. The sweeping

changes that now occurred encompassed almost every sphere of Japanese life, affec-

ting politics, law etc. Particularly important were the reforms that took place

"<

Figure

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The basic vyay to hold the body: the hips down and the kn'ees bent a little.

When moving, the body stays at basically the same level.

The typical women's stance. The hips down, knees bent a little and the toes

pointed in.

202 T. HIRAI

within the system of education, which was restructured along the lines of the

various systems in use in the United States and Europe of the time.

Early Modern Period

In 1872, a public school system was established in Japan. One consequence of

the revised education policy was that at kindergartens and primary schools pupils

were taught songs and dances which were based upon American and European

dances for children.

The various dances imported during the Rokumeikan period were actively

adopted for schoo! education by Tsuboi Gendo (1852-1922), and these social

dances became very fashionable amongst the staff of universities and colleges

[AKiBA- 1981: 52]. --Soon these dances in which the man and woman hold each

other were criticized by other teachers and stopped. Nevertheless, we could say

that the dance of the Rokumeikan was the first step in the introduction of European

dance into Japan and brought about the later adoption of these dances by the public

school curriculum [Pll<iBA 1981: 51].

With these dances, Japanese people met a style of dance very different from

that ' which they had hitherto known; there were many kinds of leg and foot

movements, physical contact of the partners etc. From this there gradually

developed an entirely new attitude towards dancing, owing to the introduction of

the leg and foot movements known as "steps" and the "hand in hand" style of danc-

ing. After the Second ,World War, these American and European dancing styles

became extremely popular at primary, junior and senior high schools.

The majority of such American and European folk dances, though containing

a wide variety of diflerent steps and holding positions, still do not demonstrate

many movements of the upper torso, that is of the waist and hips. Thus we can

understand how the assimilation of these folk dances was in no way particularly

diMcult for Japanese people, who soon learned, and enjoyed dancing the various

steps (jumping, hopping, two-steps, waltzes, the grape-vine step, the sliding step,

etc.) together with the numerous holding positions (hand-in-hand, waist and

shoulder, versovienne, etc.).

Modern Period

In the 1960's these European folk dances were included, under the direction of

the Japanese Ministry of Education, in the physical education curriculum of

schools throughout Japan. The same period saw the importation of a whole series

of exciting dances from America: dances such as the Mambo, the Monkey dance,

the Swim and the Go-Go, which dances were thought of as both fashionable and at-

tractive by the youth of the 60's. In contrast to previously imported dances, these

latter were characterized by strong rhythmic movements of the upper torso, the

twisting of hips and shoulders and the alternate contraction and relaxation of the

muscles pf the upper body. As previously stated, this kind of movement, such as hip-swaying, is particular-


ly scarce in Japanese traditional dances, folk dances or those of an artistic kind.

Though such dances were never taught within the framework of the educational

system, they seemed suthciently innovative and "exotic" to the young people of

those times to enjoy a strong, if somewhat transitory, popularity, and were much

danced at the ball-rooms and cabarets of the time.

The most recent of these waves of dances imported from abroad, would then,

appear to be that ofjazz dance, which, entering Japan in the later 1970's has proved

to be very popular, not with the young alone but also with people of･middle and

even quite advanced age. It is this phenomenon that I would now like to consider

in further detail.

To sum up before continuing, we can say that the first introduction to Japan of

isolating movements in popular dancing could be said to have begun in the 20th cen-

tury, although there might have been Some special movements (hip movements etc.)

that had existed prior to this as parts of special kinds of entertainment.

JAZZ DANCE IN JAPAN TODAY

Some exciting dance movies Were introduced to Japan in the latter part of the

1970's and a jazz dance studio was started in Tokyo in 1980 leading to the Japanese

youths' early fascination with jazz dance. We shall concentrate upon the influence

of jazz dance in the Kansai district, a district that includes the major cities of Osaka

and its environs, Nara, Kyoto, etc.

In the year 1984 the nQrthern Nara district,telephone directory showed no

listing at all under the heading "jazz dance." In that same year, however, a big

supermarket chain opened a large cultural center at which young women and

housewives could learn, amongst other things, sewing (both western and tradi-

tional), Japanese flower arrangement,･and many other such handicrafts. At that

time, there were no dance classes at all. The following year the same Directory

shows a listing for "jazz dance," and then in the year after that (1986), the words

"aerobic dance," "leg-warmers," and "leotards"･joined "jazz dance" in the category

of new listings.

It must be admitted that though the Northern part of Nara prefecture is that

part of the prefecture showing the highest density of population, it still, in no way,

compares with such major population centers as Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto.

As mentioned before, we can show that in such large cities jazz dance had become

fashionable as early as 1980. The equivalent telephone directory for Osaka, for ex-

ample, in 1986, shows listings for a good many jazz dance classes under a separate

category, that of " jazz dance studio." Thus it can be seen that places away from

the main cities were aflected by the boom a number of years later than the major

population centers. At the present time there are now more than ten jazz dance

studios in northern Nara.

Each year, since 1983, there has been a large gymnastic festival held in Osaka,

204 T. HIRAI

which has shown with each succesive year a steady increase in the number of par-

ticipating groups. Thus, 37 groups in 1973, 40 groups 1984, 53 groups 1985, 60

groups 1986, and 63 groups in 1987. The groups taking part in the festival coMe

not only from large community center sponsored classes but also from private

groups. Under the theme of "Expanding the Circle of Gymnastics" guest groups from

Sweden, Denmark, Finland etc., have been invited to participate in this yearly

event. Most of the groups are composed of young women including, of course,

many housewives. In my opinion their performances are not those of " pure" gym-

nastics alone but contain movements that show heavy influence of jazz dance:

movements like hip and shoulder isolation. This is further corroborated by the fact

that the competite themselves eften-refer to their routines as "dances" and not as

(( - r) exerclses.

In the Nara section of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper of October 1st ed., 1987,

there was a lengthy article about jazz dance students at primary schools entitled;

"Jazz Dance Students Enjoy Dancing at the Sports Festival." The article stressed

that the teacher who taught jazz dance was male. Again, in the Asahi news of Oc-

tober 4th 1987, it was mentioned that the students of a prefectural school for deaf

people were taught jazz dance and much enjoyed it. In 1987, there were many

kindergarten, primary, junior, and senior high school students who performed jazz

dance or enjoyed gymnastics influenced by jazz dance. Jazz dance has been

adopted on the curriculum since 1983. The monthly journal for physical education

(which features articles from various newspapers nation-wide) reported many cases

that support this statement [71aiiku ･ Sports 1983]. Looking back over the history

of physical education in Japan, the curriculum has mostly been determined by the

Ministry of Education. Ballroom dancing has not been a part of the curriculum.

What is more, most of the teachers have not been infiuenced by the dances to be

found on children's television programes. The phenomenon of jazz dance atschools in Japan in the 1980's is a very different and definitely an interesting issue in

the history of Japanese education. Nowadays the teachers can by no means ignore

the demands and the interests of the children, or deny the strong influence of televi-

sion on the daily lives of the children.

Another topic of interst is the change in the movements and the rhythm of the

traditional Bon dance of Japan. A small village in southern Fukuoka prefecture is

Table 1 Final portion of a sports festival at a kindergarten

12. Games

13. Exercises

14. Folk dancing

15. Games

16. lazz exercise

17. Closing Speech

"Paper, Scissors, Stone" to make a train of people

with mothers and children'

"let's dance together"

a race carrying a big ball

folktale "Momotaro"


L

1

Figure 3 Zumpa ondo, showing how Japanese people have adopted jazz dance movements

by swaying ･their hips from side to side.

known for its so-called zumpa ondo. This dance is performed in the typical

Japanese song style, and most of the movements are of the traditional Bon dance

style. However, we find some good examples of isolated hip movements in this

dance. Before 1986, a small group of housewives had tried the dance but hesitated

to do so at the Bon dance Festival because the hip movements were thought to be

mappropriate to the festival's meaning. However, they decided to dance it･at the

festival in 1986. Theorganizer ofthat small group mentioned that they had realized

from many television programes that dances with isolated hip, torso or shoulder

movements are popular these days in Japan, so that they decided to dance zumpa in

their Bon dance Festival. One comment was, "The hip movements are so happy,

aren't they?" . In 1985, I had the opportunity to participate in a Bon dance festival in a

suburb of Kyoto. The children from the kindergarten and primary schools danced

some newly choreographed dances from a television cartoon programme ,(i.e.

Doraemon ondo) showing hopping, jumping and frequent hip movements, withjoyful faces. It was at that time that I noticed that the movements in dance and the

.expressive movements of the Japanese people might be gradually changing.

THE MOVEMENTS OF JAPANESE PEOPLE IN JAZZ DANCE

What, then, are the distinctive features of jazz dance that have so strongly

1

206 T. HIRAI

influenced the Jap anese people? Hofsess noted the fo llowing . " Jazz dance, for ex-

ample, is made up of a series of minutely defined steps. Isolation (moving one

body segment, such as the rib cage, while keeping the other parts either still or mov-

ing in entirely diflerent directions), the cornerstone of Jazz, is the most extreme

form of this unit reduction.... The basic. rhythm pattern of Jazz dance, borrowed

from the music from which it gets name, is syncopation. Musically, syncopation is

defined as playing away from the accent, that is, on weak beats or parts of beats, in

order that the stress should be more marked on return to it. Jazz dance uses syn-

copation not only in a particular dance sequence, but within individual dancers.

Jazz dancers must learn to isolate each individual part of the body and be able to

move several parts simultaneously in totally distinct rhythms" [HoFsEss 1986:

1-16]-. - Andreu stated further that it is the "Use of of the-entire body rather than just

legs and arms as a means of expressing oneself in movement" [ANDREu 1983: 7].

There are sevetal common features of those who perform jazz dance in Japan.

When trying to move the hips (pelvis) swaying from right to left, most Japanese

people move both knees from right to left in the same direction as the hip. Most

Japanese, including young children and elderly people, dance in this way. On the

other hand, the trained person will perform the same hip movements with the right

knee stretched and the left knee relaxed. That is, both knees will not be bent to the

same side simultaneously as in the movements of the neophyte.

You can see in Figures 6 and 7 that the beginners in jazz dance move their but-

tocks and not their pelvis, whereas by contrast the trained person moves the pelvis.

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Figure 4-(a) Figure 4-(b)Untrained Japanese adult and child. Knees are bent to the same side qs the

hips.

Trained dancer's stance. Knees are bent in opposite directions.


Figure 5

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Untrained Japanese young people trying to

unconscious movement of the buttocks.sway their

Ns:s!lil"

hips. The result is

This shows that Japanese people very often cannot distinguish between the buttocks

(shirD and pelvis (koshD [IKEsAwA 1982: 150].

In other words, Japanese people's traditional movement does not consciously

make use of the movements of the waist [KABAyAMA 1987: 175]. However, the

result of our experiments upon isolated movement of the pelvis showed that the

housewives' group did it most clearly. When it was done however, pelvis

movements were accompanied by the arms, or by changing the center of gravity by

moving from one foot to another among junior high school students. Rather than

not being able to perform such a movement, the students seem to feel some interior

opposition to doing it. It can be said that moving the pelvis in isolation amongst

Japanese junior high school students is perceived very diflerently from the way it is

understood by equivalent American. students.

Furthermore, the shoulder movements that very often accompany the isolated

hip movements are probably done unconsciously. The isolated torso movements

seem to be very diMcult for the Japanese beginner because hip or shoulder

movements are mostly done together with torso movements. The junior highschool students were better than kindergarten children and housewives, but most of

them accompanied the movements with buttocks movements or sometimes up and

down movement of the shoulders. Most of the kindergarten children would move

the whole of the upper body including the head.

From these results of our experiments, it can be said that even for the youth of

Japan today who are surrounded by modern music and rock and roll dances, it is

diMcult to perform isolated movements of the central part of the body.

One more diMculty for the Japanese has t'o do with the･"minutely definedsteps" which are the most typical features of jazz dance, as Hofsess [1986: 116]

208 T. HIRAI

shows. In some films of young and middle aged women who are trying jazz dance,

these steps seem most dithcult, especially the ones that call for relaxing the upper

'parts of the body. ' Ashihara [1986: 314] states that the hands and legs might be moved in the

so-called namba style (in which the hand and leg of the same side are moved in the

same direction), especially when they move powerfully. However, the namba style

often appears in the beginners when they move at fast tempo. Rock'n roll music

can be considered a fast tempo as far as most Japanese people are concerned.

We conducted a survey and collected the results of a questionnaire given to

junior high school, senior high school and university students (majoring in P.E.

and non P.E.) asking, "What parts of the body do you notice in typical jazz danc-

ing?"

a) Junior'and senior high school students:

First ･････････ legs and feet

Second ･････････ trunk

Third ･････････ arms and hands

b) University students (non P.E.):

First ･････････ legs and feet

Second ･････････ hip

Third ･････････ trunk

c) Universjty students (P.E.):

First ･････････ hip

Second ･････････ trunk

Third ･････････ legs and feet

Figure

Figure

6-(a)

6-(b)

fa

Untrained people asked to do "mmutenamba style. (left)

Trained dancer doing the "mmute steps.

steps

pr

" swing

(right)

arms and' legs in the


From this survey, we can get some idea of the thinking of young people who

have had no experience of jazz dance. They were impressed by the movements of

the legs and feet. On the other hand, university students majoring in P.E. who

have had some experience of jazz dance were more struck by the hip movements.

Furthermore, it seems that the most attractive movements in jazz dance for these

young people were the movements of the legs and feet. It is pretty diMcult to come

to any specific cohclusions, but these results indicate that the Japanese youth of to-

day have been impressed by the movements of the legs and feet more than the cen-

tral parts of the body. Using these results we can speculate as to the significance of

leg and foot movements for the Japanese.

Dances and sports originating in Japan show that skillful complex movements

of the legs and feet are seldom required. Even in these days, Japanese people are

not that good at playing ball games, or at gymnastic exercises requiring complex con-

trol of the limbs. The movements of the legs and feet are most important elements

in ballet [AsHiHARA 1986: 258].

In this same survey, the subjects were asked : "Do you feel that jazz dance is at-

tractive?" The " yes" responses were as follows:

junior and senior high school students 46%

university students, non P.E. 90% university students, P.E. 100%

The percentage of the respondents having a good impression of jazz dance

among university students was very high; that of junior and senior high school

students was not as high as the university students. Some of the reasons that were

mentioned as to why jazz dance was not so attractive to them are listed as follows :

q) Jazz dance seems to be a dance done mostly by middle-aged women.

b) I cannot imagine it except when middle-aged women are dancing.

c) Jazz dance seems a little ugly because only fat women dance it.

d) My mother participates in jazz dance classes.

e) There are too many waving movements in jazz dancing.

Teen agers in Japan seem to think that jazz dance is mostly for middle-aged

women, and they often feel it is ugly or unfashionable.

THE BACKGROUND OF THE JAZZ DANCE BOOM AND ITS MEANING INJAPAN We could say that after the Second World War, the Japanese were greatly in-

fluenced by the culture of the United States ; the youth especially have focused on

that country. The mass media, television, newspapers etc. imported American

youth culture quickly and intensively to Japan. Naturally, the Japanese youth

have accepted this readily and of course, along with American youth culture, jazz

210 T. HIRAI

dance was assimilated. From the latter part of the 1970's until the early 1980's jazz

dance has been accepted by the youth very enthusiastically and as a result, many

discoteques qppeared in the big cities and accordingly the mass media extensively

covered the phenomenon. Around 1983, many cultural cehters and health studiosj

both public and private, opened jazz dance courses for young and middle-aged

housewives. Many women took part in these classes and participated in the class-

sponsored events.

At present, what are the impressions ofjazz dance amongst the youth? Oddly

enough, as was mentioned earlier, jazz dance is thought of as a dance for obasan

or mjddle-aged housewives.

Let us look a little at the social position or social situation of women (house-

wives) in Japan. After 1955, housework was changed by the rapid moderpization L

of household appliances. As a result, even very small villages in the remote coun-

tryside became somewhat modernized all over Japan. Housewives hav,e had more

leisure time [MiNouRA 1987: 80-90]. The 1970's brought drastic changes in ideas

concerning the role of women. The traditional idea that "the job of taking care of

the children and house belongs to the woman" was thoroughly questioned. The

relationships between husband and wife, and parents and children have been

gradually changing. In the 1980's, there are some new ideas as to what a typical

Japanese household should be like [MmouRA 1987: 80-90].

The "health and beauty" boom in Japan is influencing the thinking of

housewives to the point that they are rethinking their own lives and lifestyles. The

housewives' leisure hours are increasing more and more, and so are their demands

to fulfi11 their desire to pursue health and intelligence.

The data from the questionnaires given to housewives that asked whatmotivates them to participate in activities at jazz and aerobic dance studios in the

Osaka area showed the following: [HATANo 1986: 13].

First ･････････ for reasons ofhealth

Second ･････････ to combat mental and physical stress

Third ･････････ association: to meet new friends

These demands are not for just dancing, but rather through dancing, the

women hope to achieve these goals. They want to live not only for their husbands

and their children, but also for themselves, in the pursuit of health and beauty.

One of their main reasons for enjoying jazz dance is the "fashionable costumes,"

the leotards and legwarmers [HATANo 1986: 13]. We would say that thesecostumes, which fit the body tightly, allow for a wide latitude of movement.

Housewives are encouraged in like manner to have the freedom ofmovement to pur-

sue their personal goals.

Jazz dance might be said to be a dance which through body movement haschanged the sense and feeling of women concerning their social position･

YANAGi [1985: 323-326] states the three concepts: sport, health and leisure. are

the basis of the design of casual wear and this has become an indispensable element


of the fashions of the 1980's. In fact, the fiscal year of 1980-1981 was said to be the

year of "high quality sports wear". This is when fashion-wear such as leotards and

legwarmers first appeared on the women's fashion scene. Even now, dance

costumes that ar.e usually worn on stage are a part of everyday life and this combina-

tion of everyday and ballet wear gives women a feeling of freedom.

By 1986, women comprised about one third of the Japanese labour force.

This spurred the enactment of an Equal Opportunity Law that resulted in a further

increase in the number of women working and, more importantly, in both changing

women's pattern of employment from short-term jobs to longer careers, and in

developing attitudes of responsibility for and indentification with their work.

Women have a new consciousness of their enhanced position in society and of their

greater oppgrtunities for advancement [Gendai YOgo no Kiso Chishiki 1987].

At present, jazz dance gives the impression of being an activity for young

mothers and middle-aged women. It could probably said that jazz dance has

become a symbol of the consciousness and the changes in role of women in

Japanese society,･as well as a change of the aesthetic feeling towards the body and

expressive movements. In other words, jazz dance has become their symbol of

freedom and liberation.

Finally,' the 1987 edition of Gendai YOgo no Kiso Chishiki does not have a

jozz dance listing. The editors now'say that jazz dance is not something new and,

besides, it is already past its prime and has become something fixed in Japan.

However, the up-and-coming styles of aerobic and break dancing have inherited

some of the isolated movements that are characteristic ofjazz dancing. At present,

we really cannot draw any solid conclusions as to how much Japanese dance has

been changed by the influence of the jazz dance craze of the 1980's. Nevertheless,

this chapter has tried to show some of the phenomena that have resulted from its in-

troduction into Japan. By means of the educational curriculum of most schools

(kindergartens, primary, junior and high schools), the children of Japan are being

taught these types of isolated dance movements.

Even if they are done poorly now, children seem to be thinking that these

isolated movements are natural in some dances, because they are surrounded by

such dances on television and in movies. There, they can see ' the refined isolated

movements of jazz dance done by foreign entertainers.

Furthermore, it can be said that young wives and mothers through their own in-

terest and practices infiuence their children. That is to say, not in the sense of one

person initiating another, but rather of a person acting in accordance with or in reac-

tion to the thoughts and actions of another. This is called in Japanese kyoshin

or " resonance," and it is in this way that children, who have less idea of their own

identity, imitate or learn from others [NoMuRA 1987: 37]. Thus, actions such as

the isolated body movements of the mothers will affect the children in such.a way

that those actions might become an integral part of the child's own movement pat-

terns.

Now, while young people say that the jazz dancing of young mothers and

212 T. HIRAI

middle-aged women is done rather poorly, these young mothers and middle-aged

women through the isolated 'movements of hip, shoulder, torso etc., happily feel a

sense of freedom and release.

Hofsess says that real social discontent and a desire for change remain at the

root of all social protest, including the latest dance fad [HoFsEss 1986: 118]. Simp-

ly stated, jazz dance has become the symbol of the "emancipation" of the modern

Japanese women. We might remember, in this same context, the similar situation

in America of the 50's and 60's when rock and roll challenged the conservatism of the

so-called establishment [HoFsEss 1986: 118], and might understand a corresponding

and related function in women's jazz dancing in the Japan of the present day.1

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external influences in the transformation of japanese dance

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